D3 battery change.... anyone????

[giovapnea]

Hello people, I got a trouble, I need some advice, the battery of my D3 is dead, I got the manual, I read it several times, but I'm scared, I dont want to spoil my D3, did anyone have changed before???? can I do it without any problems?.. Any advice from the people who has done that before!!!.. Thanks.. I'll be waiting for the reply's!!!!!

 

[glennv]

You need to buy a battery replacement kit from Suunto (which hopefully your diveshop can order for you)
This contains a (or several) whole new battery compartement(s) with a new o-ring.

If you take out the plastic cover of the battery compartment you most likely damage the o-ring, thats why.

If you are lucky you could just replace the battery, but I did not take that gamble

 

[Bill McIntyre]

I managed to change my battery by myelf without the kit, but maybe I was lucky. It sure is a lot cheaper- I think the battery cost about $4- but of course that would be short-sighted if it had leaked after the change.

 

[Jason Billows]

I changed mine myself without the Suunto kit. Go to a watch shop and get the right kind of battery and just be sure the O ring isn't damaged before you put it back together.

When you first go to take of the battery cover be careful. It only turns a small amount, then you have to pick the cover our of the batery compartment with a small knife or tweasers. I didn't realize this the first time I tried to change the battery and ended up damaging my cover by trying to turn it too far with too much force.

 

[Panos Lianos]

I just changed the battery of my D3. I went to a watch shop, the changed the battery and did a test for any leaks. Worked out fine and only cost 6 euros.

The battery Kit from Sunto costs around 25 euros I think. You need to get the kit every 2-3 battery changes, since you need a new o-ring.

But make sure you test the D3 after the battery change, since it might leak. A good shop will do that for you, when they change the battery.

 

[giovapnea]

Thanks.. I was thinking about that, take it to a watch shop, but you know how it is, I am a bit scared, I dont want to spoil my suunto. maybe I can go there and ask if they can do it, why not, maybe they got a similar o ring and they can replaced, who knows. But if for u guys it went ok, why mine has to go wrong???. :wave , After all, this is the first time, so maybe the "o" ring is ok, and all they got to do is put the battery, test it, and that's it.

But I wanna call the people in the USA to ask for the replacement kit. If is not to expensive, and they can send it here, I'll buy it. Let me see!!!

Thanks.

 

[pat fish]

relax giovapena -for suunto it's really all about disclaiming liability. Open the compartment, have a look at the o-ring, see if it isn't damaged, change the battery and you'll be fine. I did it twice on my d3 with the same o ring...
cheers pat

 

[ADR]

I change the battery myself as well and always regrease but don't replace the o-ring unless its nicked or deformed.....same with my scuba regs as well for that matter as I service them myself and only replace damaged o-rings. Reg o-rings are generally under much greater pressure loads than the watch compartment of a suunto. I don't think twice about these sort of things but if you are the sort of person that will worry about it when you should be thinking about your dive then spend the extra dollars for the peace of mind.

 

[Jarkko]

Hi!

I was also too scared to change the battery so I sent my unit to Suunto. They charged my about 50 EUR for the battery change and also did a test to see if the unit leaks after the battery has been changed.

I wonder if someone has been brave enough to do this on their own.

Cheers,

Jarkko

 

[DeepThought]

I wonder if someone has been brave enough to do this on their own.

Read the previous post/s on this thread and your wonderment will be no more.

 

[DeepThought]

I change the battery myself as well and always regrease but don't replace the o-ring unless its nicked or deformed.....

Andy, what kind of grease do you use? Where do you get more Suunto O-rings if needed?
(I suspect it's battary-replacing time on my mosquito soon).

 

[one_tc]

The backs on the D3 & Mosquito are designed to deform upon being changed, so it's obvious it was changed by a person without Suunto parts.

A new back, O ring & battery is supplied with the kit, and only cost about £7-8 GBP, and is user changeable.
For the sake of a few extra £/E/$ it's worth paying to get a new oring and back.

If you sent it to a Suunto dealer, they will almost certainly pressure test it, which a standard watch shop won't - hence the cost.

Use a LIGHT coating of silicon grease - to make a shiney wet appearance, not caked in grease so that it attracts every speck of dirt around.


Tim

 

[giovapnea]

Still thinking about it!!!!! I went to the sea this Saturday without it, I miss my D3!!!!! :duh :ban

 

[ADR]

The backs on the D3 & Mosquito are designed to deform upon being changed, so it's obvious it was changed by a person without Suunto parts.

The backs are plastic and don't deform on the mosquito or the d3....at worst you may mark the surface getting the back off (they will pick that) but as long as the mark is above the o-ring it doesn't matter at all and with a bit of care as long as your not all thumbs you won't even do that.

I've scuba dived to 50m on my mosquito after a DIY battery changes and freedived to 52m on my d3 after a DIY battery changes. There is nothing special about the o-rings either and you can pick them up for almost nothing from places that sell o-rings....just take your old one into to be matched. It costs me $1 aussie for the o-ring and less than 1 cent for the grease (you can buy small tubs or tubes of silicon grease from most dive shops or underwater camera shops).

 

[giovapnea]

Hello friends, I 've just finished the change of the battery on my D3, well, the thing is that the battery cost me 2.33$, not much really, I've opened the case, pull out the old batt, push in the new one and put some lub on the "o" ring, the thing is that I didn't take it off the cover.

I've put the little amount of grease all around the ring, do you think that was enough??? or I need to take the "o" ring off the cover and lub it completed!! :hmm

 

[Jarkko]

Read the previous post/s on this thread and your wonderment will be no more.

Now that's a first. For some reason I thought I was the first one to anser to this question :duh

This just goes to show you that football (and other hits to the head) might not be good for you. Let that be a lesson kids

 

[Murat]

my D3 is working ok again, it seems somehow repaired itself. Interesting :hmm

No more battery indicator at the first dive and every measurment is ok.I think mine will need battery replacement as well before the end of the summer.

In manual it says, user changeable battery. They also advertise that way so i will take my chance and replace the battery myself. May be its not a idot proof but should be done with little care and applying the instruction on the manual. It did not seem to me great deal

 

[one_tc]

The backs are plastic and don't deform on the mosquito or the d3....at worst you may mark the surface getting the back off (they will pick that) but as long as the mark is above the o-ring it doesn't matter at all and with a bit of care as long as your not all thumbs you won't even do that.

Although I didn't say it, I meant the slot would deform (that's from Suunto).

I guess if you're careful it may be possible to do it without damaging it. Anyone that's careful is unlikely to have a problem, the problems arise from over zealous efforts.

Anyway since the official spares are relatively cheap, I can't see the point in taking a chance - as a flood is going to cost alot more than you could ever hope to save.


Tim

 

[ADR]

but I've already saved the cost of a D3 when you add up parts and labour for the number of changes I've done on 3 watches....so I can't loose

 

[Donna]

I changed my D3 battery (well I didn't, Martin did, under the threat of death if he messed it up! ), and it was fine. Battery cost CY£1.50 and that was it, other than a bit of lubricant on the O ring...

Martin said it all went back together easily, you just need to be a bit careful not to pinch the O ring as its quite a tight fit.

Donna